David Yates wins Best Director for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

David Yates, director of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (also currently directing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), won an Empire Award:

This is such a privilege because the readers of Empire are such film obsessives. I used to read Empire when I was growing up and it’s a fantastic magazine so thank you to everybody who voted for this.

“Obviously on a movie, you have to say thank you to a lot of people. I should probably start with my producers David Heyman and David Barron who were terrific guys, they test you, they enthuse you, they watch your back and you probably have more fun with them than one can possibly express really.

“Then I’ve got a terrific creative team who we used to create this film and my partner who’s also brought me back together again when I’ve made it through the long days. Thank you.”